Six Delhi cops arrested in UP

The Uttar Pradesh (UP) police on Friday arrested six of their counterparts from Delhi Police in Sambhal district following an FIR against the latter by a relative of a person who died in their ‘custody’.

All the six arrested Delhi Police personnel were produced before a judicial magistrate and sent to jail. An assistant commissioner of police (ACP) from the New Delhi, where the arrested personnel are posted, is camping at Sambhal with orders to seek their bail on Monday.

“The Delhi Police team came to Sunwar Sarai around 12.30pm looking for a gang of auto lifters that operated in the Capital. It was being led by ASI Satish Chand. The team included head constable Vijay Singh, constables Sandeep Satendra and Praveen Kumar and another team member,” said a UP police officer.

The said team ‘nabbed’ four villagers — Khushiram, 40, Jaiprakash, Vijay Singh and Rajendra — from the area and claimed that a stolen motorcycle had been recovered from Khushiram.

The four arrested men were then taken away in a vehicle. According to some villagers, a visibly-ill Khushiram was seen trying to get off the vehicle. Minutes later, even as he kept complaining of his ‘illness’, Khushiram died.

“The villagers then surrounded the Delhi Police team. Khushiram’s son lodged a murder complaint with Dhanari police, which rushed to the spot and arrested all the six policemen from Delhi. All the six were sent to jail. The FIR charged Delhi police of beating Khushiram to death,” the officer said.

However, a post-mortem report on Saturday reported the cause of Khushiram’s death as cardiac arrest.

Dr TD Singh, Superintendent of Police, Sambhal, also confirmed that the post-mortem report did not report any bodily injury and that Khushiram died of a cardiac arrest.

On their part, the Delhi Police termed the incident result of “a misunderstanding” and chose to speak little to avoid a ‘Delhi Police versus UP Police slugfest’. “It (the apprehension) is unfortunate,” said Deepak Mishra, special commissioner of police (law and order).

“Especially after the post-mortem report, which clearly attributed the victim’s death to heart failure, had been received by them.”